Light in the Dark
by deadly sorrow
Summary: An agent of SHIELD assigned to protect the tesseract soon finds out there is more to it, and her, than meets the eye. Currently under revision.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot and any unrecognizable characters.**

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It wasn't the crushing loneliness that got to her. That, after the last few years as an agent, she could deal with. Nor was it the fact that they were keeping a cube made out of limitless energy in the basement, though she could go on for days if provoked on _that_ topic.

No, it was the claustrophobia that seemed to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune moments.

Some days, she was fine being underground, observing the scientists while they worked carelessly over the Tesseract. The energy it released in short, erratic bursts calmed her, though she kept that thought to herself. _I'm probably going mad after all these months underground._

She thrived in the sunlight, and knew staying underground to help Barton watch the scientists and to help protect the Tesseract was having averse effects on her person. Clint had already, passing it off as casual even though she could see the concern in his eyes, questioned her about the shadows under her eyes and the ashen pallor of her skin.

He'd, thankfully, agreed to cover her when she'd all but begged for an escape from the lifeless monotony that living in the underground of the base caused. Now, seated beneath the stars on the roof, she was finally able to relax.

She liked to believe that SHIELD was only using the Tesseract to create energy, that they had no ambitions to turn the limitless source of rather destructive energy into weapons, but she was also a realist. She wasn't privy to the inner workings of the shady spy organization she'd joined, though that had never mattered to her before now.

All she'd wanted was to remain hidden from the world, from the fact that she was different and had always been different. All she knew was that she'd woken at the age of twenty with no memories, not even of who she was, and had been quickly picked up by SHIELD after she'd released a kind of energy that killed half a forest.

So SHIELD had taken her in, trained her to be one of their operatives, and paired her with a surly, prickly Russian defector named Natasha Romanov. Willow smiled at the thought of the red-haired beauty, who was off doing God knew what.

_While I'm stuck with babysitting an object that needs constant supervision unless we want it to take out an entire base. _The real possibility made her shiver, pulling the loose windbreaker tighter around her slim shoulders. The air, while hot and dry with the sun up, was frigid once the moon and stars came out, and she'd always been oddly averse to the cold.

She felt Clint before she heard him, felt the life force that was approaching, light as a shadow. So when he lightly tapped her shoulder with his boot, she did nothing but crane her head around to meet his gaze.

"Yeah?"

He frowned ever so slightly, barely a twist of his lips. "It's the Tesseract. Fury's coming and Coulson wants us on deck."

The lab was in chaos when she entered, with scientists running amok as they tried to stop the flaring Tesseract from bringing the whole of the base down onto their heads. Clearly, the Tesseract was fed up with being poked and prodded and was finally throwing a royal fit, if the amount of terror she could see was any indication.

As Willow clambered up the metal steps to the catwalk that extended halfway through the room, she glanced at the Tesseract in its cradle. While the power source was typically a cool blue, almost icy, now it was flashing between light greys and whites and was humming quite loudly.

Clint was already in his typical spot, legs hanging off the catwalk while he lounged against the railing. She stopped beside him, staring intently at the Tesseract as it released another wave of energy that, while harmless, served to work the scientists into fits.

Clearly, it had been at it for a while, as none of the people amid the seething chaos below her looked remotely optimistic about the possibility of this particular fit passing without any casualties.

She sighed heavily, lowering herself until her head rested between her extended arms. Clint lazily looked up at her, face inscrutable as always.

"How much do you wanna bet there's going to be an evac within twenty minutes?"

He smirked wryly in response, though didn't answer the dry question she'd posed.

A few long hours later, with evacuations in progress and her earpiece buzzing loudly in her ear as agents shouted to one another, she was ready to commit murder. _As long as it gets me out of here._ Jittery and nervous, though she couldn't pinpoint why, Willow had taken to pacing along the catwalk.

Though Clint had said nothing, she could see his eyebrow twitch with every 'clank' of her boots against the metal. Both of them were on edge and she knew her pacing wasn't helping, though she couldn't help it. Her stomach was twisting and knotted with nerves and the urge to be sick was almost overwhelming.

_I need to go outside. I need -_. Clint was there, hands on her shoulders as his eyes probed her own. Her fists slowly unclenched, the unhealthy whiteness of her knuckles fading as blood returned to her fingers. Shaking and sick, she forced herself to nod at the quiet question in Clint's eyes.

As her mouth opened shakily, a deep, commanding voice echoed through the chamber. "Talk to me, Doctor!"

Both of them turned to the edge of the catwalk to see Fury striding into the chamber, expression stern. Selvig ducked around the CMS machine, harried and exhausted.

"Director." He greeted before he turned to another screen, eying the equations worriedly.

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury asked as Selvig and another scientist exchanged worried questions.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Selvig offered flatly before he checked through more readings.

As Fury and Selvig continued to discuss what was going on, Willow glanced back at the Tesseract, ignoring Clint's disapproving stare. The months they'd spent together, while they'd been passing acquaintances before, had brought them closer and she knew he viewed her as some kind of sibling, though one to be kept at arm's length.

She'd only been in SHIELD for a few years, and had just been granted the freedom to go on missions alone. So, a good portion of the Agents employed for the agency watched her with guarded curiosity and downright hostility in some cases.

"Barton, Stern, report." Fury's clipped tones ordered from their comms.

With a sigh, Willow heaved herself over the railing, gripping the rapel line that rested a foot from the bars. Clint followed, and soon they were walking with the Director towards the still flaring Tesseract. Well aware that the gamma radiation it was expelling wasn't considered dangerous, Willow still wanted to flinch when the energy washed over her.

"I gave you both this assignment so you could keep an eye on things."

"I see better from a distance." Clint slanted a look at her. "And the scientists don't appreciate Stern offering her opinions."

Fury leveled his good eye at her. "I may have... offended some of the scientists." She offered flatly, eyes narrowed and dangerous. "They didn't take it well, and Selvig suggested that I keep my distance."

A dark brow rose but Fury didn't comment. Willow caught the corner of his lips twitch, though knew better than to assume that the Director was laughing at her. His eye shifted back to the Tesseract as it flared again, the color losing almost all of its blueish hue before it settled again.

"Are either of you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" Fury asked, though Willow was more concerned at the panicked scientist, whose voice had raised above the din.

"Doctor, it's spiking again!" Selvig hurried to the woman, the frown on his brow so deep it looked permanent.

Willow inhaled, the sickening feeling in her stomach returning full force, and she forced herself to focus on Clint and Fury, to stave off the nausea she could feel inside her stomach.

"No one's come or gone." Clint supplied as he and the Director approached the platform the Tesseract was cradled on. "It's oven is clean. No contacts, no IMs."

"If there was any tampering, sir, it clearly wasn't at this end." Willow added.

"At this end?"

"The cube _is_ a doorway to the other end of space." She stated and Fury's brow lowered, his good eye thoughtful. "Doors usually open both ways."

Her attention was torn from Fury, fixing on the Tesseract as its humming grew even louder, seeming to shake the foundations of the base. The light emanating from the Tesseract grew, all traces of blue fading into a shining white light.

The air around crackled with energy and Willow almost doubled over from the amount of it. She felt Clint's hands on her elbows, fingers digging into her skin as they stared at the Tesseract while it spat and vibrated, the sound almost angry. A sudden roar accompanied the burst of pure energy that shot from the Tesseract, while the air around the platform was twisted and torn apart.

Willow blinked through the light and the sight of space, dark and cold and dotted with stars, before the energy was violently blown outwards. This time, she did double over from the energy that suddenly fused with her body, taking all of her own with it when it left, leaving her skin prickling with intense heat.

Panic once more filled the air, and everyone ducked from the energy, though it harmlessly dissipated in a pale blue cloud. The painful silence reigned, though was soon broken by something low and harsh.

_Breathing._

All eyes were on the edge of the platform, peering past the smoke that clung to it to see the source of the noise. A man with dark, slicked back hair crouched on it, clad in dark leathers. As he stood, she caught a flash of green amidst the blacks and golds, though her view was blocked as several SHIELD guards advanced, weapons drawn.

Clint stepped in front of her, posture stiff and wary, and she impatiently brushed past him, smothering the gasp that had risen in her throat. The man had stood, showing off a lithe, tall figure that she'd seen on no other. His face was pale, ashen and ill looking, and his sharp features were strained, as if he'd been through hell.

Even though she was too far away to hear him, as his eyes drifted through the room and landed on her, she saw his lips move, and something like a caress brushed through her mind.

_'__Ēostre__?'_

The vivid color of his eyes flashed, cold and intelligent, even as they widened in slight surprise. Soon, however, a mad, grinning smile stretched across his thin, pale lips as the intensity of his gaze increased.

He shifted, and her gaze was torn from his own to the spear that rested in his grip. Made of some golden metal, with a lethal looking tip and an oval crystal that glowed blue nestled in a bed of spikes. Strangely, it reminded her of the color of the Tesseract, and that thought sent her hair standing on end.

"Sir! Please, put down the spear!" She barely heard Fury's calm shout, mind filled with static.

The man glanced at Fury, then down at the spear in question. Then, to her horror, he glanced back at her before his grin widened.

The next few seconds were a blur, and all she knew was that he'd raised the spear, humming with energy, before a ball of glowing energy shot from the tip. She'd thrown herself to the side, ears ringing as the energy exploded behind her.

Heat prickled at her neck, and she forced herself to look up despite the sensation weighing down her head. She could hear gunfire and screams of pain and surprise and she forced herself up onto her elbows.

Chaos had descended and she watched as the man flung knives, the sharp projectiles digging into the unprotected flesh of the necks of her fellow agents. Clint, who had thrown both himself and Fury out of the way, had his gun out and was shooting at the man, though was soon forced to tumble to the side as another blast of energy was shot his way.

Willow looked around, swallowing at the sight of the prone bodies around her. One scientist was sprawled out a few feet away, part of her face covered with burns and her chest unmoving. Shaking now, Willow forced herself to stand and look around for Clint.

Her mouth flew open in horror, though her cry of warning came too late as the man grabbed hold of Clint's wrist, forcing the gun from his grip.

"You have heart..." The man muttered, his voice ragged and silky.

"Clint!" The scream tore from Willow's throat when the stranger smoothly pressed the tip of his spear to Clint's chest, right over his heart. It flared with energy, the glow streaming from the tip into Clint, who groaned softly while his eyes flashed black, then to a glazed, red-tinted blue.

Pain lashed through her when Clint holstered his gun with a sigh. She caught Fury and the sight of him packing the Tesseract as quickly as possible. She hurried to him, daring a glance back to see their assailant putting the last living agents under his thrall.

Her hands were trembling and she forced them to still as she shut the last straps on the suitcase, grabbing hold of its handle. She and Fury stood, their movements towards the door halted by the stranger's smooth voice.

"Please don't," calm and polite, as if he hadn't just murdered and enslaved their comrades, he turned to face them. "I still need that."

She wanted to curse him, to throw him out of a building, to suck him dry of the energy she could feel writhing beneath his skin, to shoot him full of holes. Fury, thankfully, saved her from responding.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." The man merely twisted his head as he spoke, refusing to turn towards the Director.

"Of course it does," the man replied calmly, voice cold. "I've come too far for anything else." Willow grasped the Tesseract closer, cradling it defensively to her side, daring him to come and get it. "I am Loki, of Asgard," he continued proudly. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki?" All eyes turned to Selvig, who was kneeling beside his deceased assistant. "Brother of Thor?" He wheezed out, and Willow caught a foreboding expression flash on the stranger's - _Loki's_ \- face.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury snapped, trying to defuse the situation.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki shot back flatly.

"Are you planning to step on us?" Fury asked incredulously.

"I come with glad tidings," Loki continued, side-stepping Fury's question. "Of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Willow asked before she could stop herself. She cursed loudly in her head with every Russian swear she knew when eyes, a vivid emerald, slanted to her.

"Freedom." He hefted his sceptre. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that in your heart..." He trailed off and spun round smoothly, pressing the tip of his spear to Selvig's heart. "You will know peace."

Willow stared at the man... this mad, _mad_ man, as he enslaved Selvig to his will, just as he'd enthralled Clint. Fear, quick and crippling, threatened to overtake her at the sight of it.

"Yeah, you say 'peace'. I kinda think you mean the other thing." Fury stated in a hard voice.

"Sir," Clint's glazed eyes were fixed on the swirling storm of energy above them as it crackled. "Director Fury is stalling," he strode to Loki's side. "This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

The energy had nowhere to go, blocked by the very thing they'd used to keep it secret. As it rumbled ominously, Willow flinched, clutching the Tesseract closer.

"Like the pharaohs of old." Fury agreed

"He's right," Selvig was glancing at a computer. "The portal is collapsing on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki glanced between his thralls before he took a step forward and Willow took an automatic step back. "Don't!" She hissed through clenched teeth. Pain spasmed across the Asgardian's face and she took pleasure at the sight. "Come any closer."

"I do as I please," he countered smoothly, expression flashing through pain and despair and relief. "_Ēostre_..."

"Sir, we don't have enough time." Selvig reminded him, oddly glazed expression looking mildly terrified.

Loki's expression smoothed and he glanced at Clint. "Well then?"

Fury's hand was rough when it collided with her back, pushing her out of the way as the Tesseract flew from her grasp. Pain flashed along her chest and the graze throbbed with agony while the wind was knocked from her lungs.

She forced herself onto her elbow, eyes wide as Fury was knocked to the ground as well. Clint, Loki, Selvig and the thralled agents stalked past, Clint pausing to pick up the Tesseract, eyes meeting Willow's briefly.

She stared at him, pleadingly, and caught something flicker in his gaze before the bloodshot blue took over. As they fled the room, Willow forced herself to her feet and Fury struggled to rise from the ground.

"Get... comm." He commanded hoarsely, grappling for the device.

She grabbed hold of it, rasping into the comm, "Hill!" She hauled Fury's arm over her, dragging him from the room. "Hill! Barton's turned!"

Gunshots and screams, muffled and muted were coming from outside the lab as she and Fury stumbled away from the rumbling behind them. Fury pulled from her support, his expression dark as he grasped his own comm.

"They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!" Fury shouted into the comm, breaking into a run. Willow followed suit, wincing when he addressed her. "How the hell did he know you?"

She didn't answer, not sure that she could. Something in her mind, in the depths that she didn't dare mess with, screamed that she knew him and that it was important, though she had no idea who he was. Dimly, she could hear Coulson shouting in her earpiece as she and Fury raced to the roof, ducking into a helicopter.

As they rose, she dared a look down and watched in horror as the base began to collapse in itself. Her attention was torn from the destruction beneath her when Fury barked orders at the pilot to chase after the fleeing cars. Even though she knew it was a losing battle, she still followed Fury's lead and shot at the car.

A familiar rush of blue energy was flung at them, and as they quickly bailed on the now careening helicopter, Willow dazedly sprawled on the dusty ground while the car sped away, taking the Tesseract and Clint and Loki with it. Fury was soon on his feet beside her, barking orders into his comm while her own went haywire.

Personally, she questioned how Fury was even on his feet, especially since she felt like she'd just gone toe to toe with Banner and she hadn't even been shot. Fury glanced down at her, voice suddenly tired and drained even as he remained upright.

"Coulson, you and Stern, get back to base. This is a Level Seven."

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**A/N: So, looking back on 'Light in the Dark, I found I wasn't happy with it, so I've been working on rewriting it in my spare, spare, spare time... not that there is much. So, this won't be updated too frequently, but I have a basic outline and know where I'm going. Some big changes, some small ones, but I felt that they were all needed. **

**Thoughts? Comments? Questions?**


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